Reflection Session 2

English and Social Studies Departments

Reflections on Keynote
- Inspiring talk
- What does it mean to be a teacher in a google world?
- Are we going to decide these questions?

Wide vs. Deep
We want to encourage this in our classrooms, but are we doing this in our faculty development?
Disconnect between all the new initiatives
What are the principles we will stand for?

If we are really student-centered we should be seeing all of our students every day

What are our key principles?
- We would hope that these are representative of the whole school, not just the MS
- What do I stand for?
- How will I serve my community?
- How will I learn? Not what will I learn? Balance between content and process: must have content to be able to process. We need solid, academic principles that all students are learning, common ground. So what is that core content, knowledge that we need to impart? Each department has benchmarks. What are the things that we keep? That are part of our identity, that have traction?
- All students need to be able to come up with ideas, write their ideas, present them persuasively
- Gather and manage information, work collaboratively, make decisions

What is the benefit of a 1 to 1 laptop program?
Students have computers at home and we have access to labs, etc. Small group discussions can take place without laptops. Is this an abrupt change from what we are doing?
- Students don't see a limit to how they can share what they have learned, the research and sharing happens in the classroom.
- Need to model and make sure they have face to face communication, too. Middle school kids are social by nature. Will need these opportunities to interact.
- How much student input are we getting about this laptop program? Need to survey the students about this.

What happens when we start treating school as real life and not preparation for real life?
- Important to develop voice

Collaboration within the school and outside the school

What will make this productive?
- Sharing strategies with each other
- What are the other divisions doing?
- Talk about what we stand for? What are we working toward?

What are three themes/principles that the MS should incorporate in its vision? (Individual notes from each participant)
1. How do I learn? What is my role in this community? How do I show what I know?
2. Collaborative work; what will students learn?; how will the research be used?
3. How do I learn about the world? Collaboration and communication
4. Learn, Present, Share
5. How will I learn? How will I be an asset to my communities? How will I make good decisions? How will I communicate my ideas to others?
6. Serve individual learning styles to reach a common goal. Collaborate.
7. Responsibility for Learning; Service-How will I lead and serve this community?; Curiosity-Ask questions, seek answers, etc; Creativity
8. Gather and manage info; Make decisions; work collaboratively; balance content and process
9. Discovering Who Am I?; Reflecting on Who Am I and Who do I want to be? How do I get there?; Teaching following this principle: reading writing and arithmetic are important inly if they make our children more HUMANE. (Pedro Navarro)
10. Collaborating, networking, communication
11. Values: To become an active participant in my own learning; to learn how to research and process information; to leran about my own life as it relates to my community
12. How to learn; where do I fit in this community; collaborative learning across disciplines and values
13. How will I serve my community? Creativity and critical thinking skills. How I/we balance between content and process. (From perspective of "What do I value as a MS faculty member")
14. What do I stand for? (critical thinking strand); Who am I as a learner?
15. To be able to persuasively argue/articulate ideas; to be exposed to our intellectual/academic heritage; to accept responsibility for selves and ideas
16. Intellectual curiosity expressed in inquiring, open minds; understanding of the universality of human condition; strong, good character
17. How do I learn? Who am I and what do I stand for? Where do I stand in a global community?
18. Help students determine what they believe in; question what they are taught/hear/learn; develop good character
19. Research Tools, Collaboration, Presenting